Ordinary Time: Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Today, if you live in Mississippi, please remember to go and vote. Paul instructs us to always be good citizens!

Old Testament Lesson

2 Samuel 7:18-29

We see David praying today, thanking God for all that He is going to do for David and for Israel. And, the thing that He keeps stressing is that is it God that has done this. Israel is not great based off their own might, but based off the might of God. It is from Him all the blessings that they received came from.

That is a great lesson for us this morning. It is from God that all the good things in our life come from. He is the source of all that is good. Even the things that we feel like we have worked for and come from our own strength, it is God that has given us the grace that is good health and work ethic. So, in all that we have, it is God that is to be praised!

New Testament Lesson

Acts 18:12-28

One thing we see with these first Christians is that they placed the gospel above all else in their lives. Today, Apollos could have told the others that came to instruct him that he knew what he was doing, he didn't need their help. But, he didn't. He listened. He wanted to do what was right. Today Paul could have told them, I'll definitely be back to preach to you some more. But, he didn't. He said he would be back if the Lord willed.

They each wanted to do right by the good news and wanted to do what the good news demanded of them. May we do the same, may we keep the good news primary in our lives.

Gospel Lesson

Mark 8:22-33

Max Lucado says that this is his favorite miracle in all the Bible, for if Jesus can use spit to heal someone, he can use him to. I like that thought. There is nothing God cannot use, there is no one God cannot use. Today, Jesus healed this mans blindness not something great, but with something common. That is what He longs to do, use the common ordinary things in life (like each of us) and used them to do extraordinary things.

Today, there is nothing that God cannot do through you! He can, and will, used each of us for great things, if we will allow.